We are all volunteers, helping others out with absolutely no recompense. Please be polite. PLEASE PLEASE read the following information and ESPECIALLY the FAQ. PLEASE. The whole point of this forum is for SHARING of info; therefore, what you post MAY help someone else.

How to ask for help!!!!

1. Location: From-to, Airport or city. Renting a car in the city will be MUCH cheaper than getting it at the airport. If youíre arriving at the airport, consider using TAXI FARE FINDER to figure out the cost of a taxi to the rental agency in the city + cost of car rental there. This will usually be cheaper than renting it at the airport.

NOTE OF CAUTION: City offices often close sooner than the airport ones. If you're going to rent in the city,Make SURE that they're going to be open!

2. Type of Car: Mention if youíd work with any size, or if you HAVE to have a certain type. You can find a good table of various car sizes HERE, and the types of cars they usually include, along with how many people and bags you could fit in it.

3. Date & Time: When doing your research, play around with the timings. For Example : If you rented the car at 11am on Monday and are returning it on Wednesday, see if returning the car a few hours earlier will reduce the price. Remember that if youíre late in returning the vehicle, there is a VERY SMALL grace period allowed. Some donít give you a grace period at all. Also keep in mind, that the rental agency could charge you extra if you decide to return the car to a different place.

IMPORTANT NOTE- Timing is important, so if you can be flexible here, that can work to your advantage. Usually weekly deals are available for a rental of 4 days + 1 or 2 hours. It may be worth it to play with your p/u and drop times to snag a weekly deal and use a weekly coupon on top of that. HOWEVER-- don't try to beat the system by dropping off early on a weekly deal. You could wind up paying the walk-up rate at $$$$$.

that is , 4 days plus change may be cheaper than 4....by using a coupon with a weekly deal

4. 3 Attempts MINIMUM: you MUST post rates from a bare minimum of 3 different companies and AT LEAST 3 different combinations of codes and coupons. Post the prices you've returned. Don't forget to include tax. Go to the LAST PAGE to see the complete price with discounts, taxes and coupons applied

Donít just use 3 random codes and ask us to help you. Try using as many codes as you can (that you are ELIGIBLE for). And then post the 3 BEST rates that you found.Also review the last 4-5 pages for codes that others have used. This way, we don't re-create your work; your post may help someone else; and perhaps you will have learned something valuable doing your homework.

Remember that this is all volunteer and it's just as much work for the old-timers to plug in the numbers as it is for the newbies. You must make an investment of time if you want to save money.-- pretty much like with everything else.

FAQ1. No one here has a magic way of finding the best rate. Please do some research yourself. And post with AS MUCH information as you can.

2. Always try LEGIT codes FIRST. If you donít belong to a certain government organization or university or corporation, DONíT use that code. Expect to be asked for proof of membership for the code youíve used, and if you canít supply it, you will end up having to get a car at the walk-in rates, which would be WAY WAY more expensive.Yes, you could be thinking that youíve never been asked for proof before but there have been many instances where people have been asked for ID and proof. FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED.

3. BEWARE of using codes that you donít qualify for, that include insurance. If youíre in an accident, the corporation that supplied the code will check to see if youíre eligible and if youíre not, you will have to pay up!

4. Flexibility. The more you have with your dates, times, and type of car you will accept, the better your deal power. Need a car from Tues to Thurs? Insisting on an SUV for that mountainous Florida excursion? Must have a convertible? You limit your options for a cheap rental. Short-term midweek rentals make you a business-class renter, the RAC's meat and potatoes. There is little incentive to offer you a deal. It will cost them more to turn the car over than they will make renting to you.Unless you have saved up some reward points or days, your best bet for these cases may very well be Priceline or Hotwire. Refer to bidding educations sites like betterbidding, biddingfortravel, and tripducky to see what kinds of bids are being accepted for your approximate dates

5. Additional drivers: Most corporate accounts allow free additional drivers IF it is a business rental. If the additional driver does get into an accident there most probably will be an investigation before your insurance is willing to pay out. They will probably determine that the driver was unauthorized, and void your insurance, so be careful. It is usually safer to pay the fee to have the additional driver listed in the contract.

6. Prices VARY like crazy.Let me repeat that PRICES VARY LIKE CRAZY. If you find a rate that looks somewhat better than what youíve seen so far, reserve it. Reserving is free and you can always cancel if you find a better rate later. Donít hold out in search of a better rate. Book that rate first and then keep looking.Again- IF YOU FIND A GOOD RATE, BOOK IT IMMEDIATELY.

7. Insurance is a whole separate topic. Check your coverage thru your own insurance company and your credit cards, and consider investigating AMEX's policy, which is much cheaper than buying thru the rental agency. Most insurance companies will provide you with Primary coverage. As long as you pay for your rental in FULL with a credit card, that credit card provider will provide you with secondary coverage. Please research LDW and CDW and whether youíre insurance coverage provides you with these. Also note that some states such as NY have a clause where car insurance policies HAVE to include car rental insurance. So if youíre NOT a resident of NY, you will be forced by the rental agency to buy insurance through them, or else they wonít rent you the car.

8. Additional Driver: Consider whether you will be needing an additional driver. You may have to pay a daily fee of up to $10 or more for the privilege OR you may be able to get that for free. Policy will vary by company, state, and code. CA and NV don't charge for spouses driving. Budget doesn't charge for spouses; National won't if you are an Emerald Club member; and Hertz won't if you are both AAA holders. Alamo's WalMart code will include almost anyone for free. These are just some of the variations.

9. Loyalty Clubs: More reasons to join the loyalty clubs- advance emails of deals and coupons; better likelihood of an upgrade; opportunity to earn free days (this can be valuable on pricy one-ways!); quicker escape with your car.

10. Rent Smart! If you have a larger group to transport and multiple drivers, consider renting two smaller cars. When minivans and SUV's are at a premium, it can save you more than half the price and give you more freedom besides.

11. One-way rentals can cost BIG $$$$. Join promotions for free days (like National's 1-2-Free) and save them up. Consider seasonal relocational deals, especially into Florida in late fall and out of FL in mid-spring. "Drive out specials" can be had dirt cheap post- spring break into late spring/early summer. A car is not always the most economical means of transportation for one-ways. Consider other options.

** Thank you riaesq and j129 for putting this together for the community! **

Nevermind.. For some reason when I searched for the rate it picked ORD to ORD

halcut007 (Jul. 24, 2015 @ 3:49p)
|

Thanks for looking. †At this point, I think I have to eat the large one-way cost.

footh (Jul. 25, 2015 @ 12:09p)
|

Preview

January 2013 Update:

In the last year or two, all of the FW car rental threads that had previously been stickied threads at the top of the "Travel Discussion" forum were removed as stickies, but due to the importance and value of the topic, I have asked the moderators to add one car rental thread back as a stickied thread -- and this is the one they chose.

I have tried to search through the archives to locate other car rental threads that used to be key threads on the Travel Discussion forum in past years.

These car rental threads contain a lot of great information, but most of them are pretty old and not kept up to date (which would require a lot of hard work by volunteer FW members, so it's understandable of course), so it does take some patience to sift through the material.

Here are some of those links, which I hope are helpful to the FW community, especially new members who didn't know that this information existed here:

KEY POINT: Remember when doing your own searches on FW that much of the best advice is hidden in the "archived" threads, so make sure to select that option in the search menu after you are finished searching on the active threads for your search terms

NOTE: In the past, many of the experienced Travel forum members used to advise new FW members that if they want the best and most all-encompassing information on saving money with flights, rental cars, hotels, etc., they should check out other websites which are dedicated to the travel industry and therefore have more current knowledge, coupon codes, deals, etc. on them. This is still a great piece of advice. One of those sites is called "Flyertalk".

==========================================================SUMMARY Information that was added here between 2007-2012:

IF YOU WANT TO ASK FOR HELP, BE SURE TO READ THE FAQ'S FIRST:http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/travel-discussion/1010946/

ETA by riaesq 6/8/10: Always try LEGIT codes FIRST (that means, the ones you can qualify for) They often result in bottom-line totals as good as the ones you may not qualify for and will save possible headaches. And YES, SOMETIMES THEY DO ASK FOR PROOF. You'll just have to ask yourself if you feel lucky.

Â ENTERPRISE CODES: WARNING: A lot of the Government and University codes are for official use only, use them at your own RISK. Usually the code will state whether it is for official use only or not. Also, Remember coupons cannot be used together with a corporate code. It has been noticed that a lot of Enterprise Codes no longer allow underage rentals, even if they used to. Double check before renting.
Overall top 5:
XVC1092 Car & Driver $65.50 $61.50 EXLNT & SAFE DISC MOST PPL
XVC1093 Car & Driver $62.82 $61.82 LDW incl No fee add drvr or Under age
49B450 Brown University 66.90 49.75
NA55W04 State of New York 74.34 66.48

Â NATIONAL CODES: National will usually have the best one-way rates, But you have to mix and match. Remember National allows you to use multiple coupons (up to 3) with a corporate account. But not all coupons can be used together with each other.

For the enterprise 20% off link (Link), it says "Print this coupon and present at branch." but then in the fine print it says "Original coupon must be redeemed at the time of rental..." Since this coupon is for Entertainment Book holders, does that mean they want this coupon AND a coupon from the book? I'm not a book holder, so I don't know if the Entertainment Book actually has an Enterprise coupon in it.

So I guess my question is, does the webpage print out serve as the "original coupon"?

sc300tt said: For the enterprise 20% off link (Link), it says "Print this coupon and present at branch." but then in the fine print it says "Original coupon must be redeemed at the time of rental..." Since this coupon is for Entertainment Book holders, does that mean they want this coupon AND a coupon from the book? I'm not a book holder, so I don't know if the Entertainment Book actually has an Enterprise coupon in it.

So I guess my question is, does the webpage print out serve as the "original coupon"?

Yes. There are lots of deals on the Entertainment book website. They are seperate from the book and that coupon will suffice.

Trying to reserve at national 2/1-2/7 in Bozeman, MT (going skiing). They aren't taking any coupons codes...says "station specific coupon blackout". This especially sucks since I checked a few months ago, before I was ready to book, and the rates were super cheap and they were taking my coupon codes. Now I'm paying $165 for a week with a compact...

pete7919 said: sc300tt said: For the enterprise 20% off link (Link), it says "Print this coupon and present at branch." but then in the fine print it says "Original coupon must be redeemed at the time of rental..." Since this coupon is for Entertainment Book holders, does that mean they want this coupon AND a coupon from the book? I'm not a book holder, so I don't know if the Entertainment Book actually has an Enterprise coupon in it.

So I guess my question is, does the webpage print out serve as the "original coupon"?

Yes. There are lots of deals on the Entertainment book website. They are seperate from the book and that coupon will suffice.

got a friend who is under 25.. needs to book a car from zip code 24060 from dec 15-dec 17. any help is greatly appreciated.. unlimited miles if possible.. got a few with 500 free miles.. but need more than that.. thanks!

got a friend who is under 25.. needs to book a car from zip code 24060 from dec 15-dec 17. any help is greatly appreciated.. unlimited miles if possible.. got a few with 500 free miles.. but need more than that.. thanks!

I did not check the rates, but I know the following codes should waive the underage fee, and should give unlimited mileage, I dont know which one will be the best in this situation though:HERTZ: 13000 American Bar AssociationAvis: G298100 Gevoha V125600 Ohio State UniversityEnterprise: 01A8037 BETA GAMMA SIGMA N04075 Princeton University 23J2586 Stanford NA47008 University of Utah NA21UVA UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

I left the government codes, but if you want, look in the initial list and I mention whether they are supposed to waive the underage fee or not in the notes.If you find out any others that do, please let me know.

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